Déise Ministers of State set for international visits for St Patrick's Day
Newly appointed Ministers of State John Cummins and Mary Butler at the Waterford Count Centre in SETU.
Waterford’s two Ministers of State, Mary Butler and John Cummins, will be packing their bags in March as they are set for international diplomatic trips for St. Patrick’s Day.
As part of the government’s annual St. Patrick’s Day charm offensive to promote Ireland’s interests around the world, the newly-elected government junior and senior ministers have been assigned their travel itinerary.
Amid protests from opposition parties, the Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris, will both be visiting the United States of America. In previous years, the Taoiseach would be expected to attend an audience at the White House with the US President, but an invitation to the event has yet to be extended.
Eight members of Cabinet will be traveling to America in March, but neither Waterford members of government have got that nod.
Fianna Fáil TD for Waterford, Minister of State and Government Chief Whip Mary Butler will visit Denmark and Sweden to meet with government delegations from both countries.
As government representatives travel to the four corners of the globe, Fine Gael's Minister John Cummins is set to jet off to Thailand and the Philippines for St. Patrick’s Day.
The Ceann Comhairle, Verona Murphy is set to travel to Switzerland and the Cathaoirleach Seanad Mark Daly will get plane tickets heading to Edinburgh.
The ministers travelling to the United States are as follows: Taoiseach Micheál Martin - Texas and Washington DC; Tánaiste Simon Harris - Philadelphia and New York; Darragh O'Brien - Miami and Los Angeles; Peter Burke - Boston and New Hampshire; Dara Calleary - Atlanta and Savannah; Patrick O'Donovan - Seattle and San Francisco; Jennifer Carroll MacNeill - UN Commission on the Status of Women, New York and Chicago; Attorney General - Rossa Fanning Michigan and Montana; Alan Dillon - Utah and Vancouver.
The ministers travelling abroad are: Paschal Donohoe – Germany; Jack Chambers - Chile and Argentina; Norma Foley – London; Helen McEntee – Australia; Jim O'Callaghan - Italy, Holy See and Malta; James Browne – China; James Lawless – India.
